1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for protecting medical personnel from inadvertent contact with body fluids during a medical procedure and, more particularly, to a device for precluding needle stick and contamination by blood from a patient during intravenous insertion of a catheter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The administration of medication or sustenance intravenously has been an accepted medical procedure for decades. The procedure contemplates the use of an introducer needle for introducing a needle circumscribing sheath into the vein of a patient. The sheath includes a hub for receiving a male member of an intravenous conduit connected to a source of the fluid to be injected. After insertion of the catheter, the needle is withdrawn. Such withdrawal creates an open passageway through the catheter and its hub through which blood from the vein will flow until the intravenous line is attached to the hub. It is not unusual for the administering medical personnel to be stuck with the needle during manipulation of the needle subsequent to withdrawal from the catheter. Even physical contact with the needle will expose the medical personnel to contact with any blood or other fluids in or upon the needle. Such contact with the blood and body fluids and needle stick exposes the attending medical personnel to a high risk of contracting serious infectious diseases, such as AIDS, infectious hepatitis, etc.
The problems attendant leakage of blood during the procedure of inserting a catheter are well known and various attempts have been made to at least reduce, if not eliminate, such leakage and exposure to contact. U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,766 is directed to a puncturable self sealing valve at the hub of the catheter to close the exposed end of the catheter upon withdrawal of the needle. During attachment of the intravenous conduit, the valve is forced upon to establish communication with the catheter. Depending upon the degree of resiliency of the valve, one or more droplets of blood may or may not flow therethrough during the step of withdrawing the penetrably mounted needle. No apparatus is suggested or described for protecting medical personel against contact with the needle or needle stick, either before or after use. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,192,304 and 4,198,973 are directed to a pair of tabs manually foldable upon one another to pinch the catheter tube after insertion and prior to attachment of an intravenous line. Depending upon the manual dexterity of the operator and the quickness with which the catheter line is pinched shut during withdrawal of the needle, a lesser or greater amount of blood will be expelled from the catheter. It may be noted that the catheter must be continually pinched until attachment of the intravenous line to prevent outflow of blood.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,450 is directed to apparatus for introducing a catheter into a blood vessel and includes a dilator member. A valve is incorported to prevent blood outflow from the apparatus during insertion of the catheter. Exposure of medical personnel to the blood contaminated surface of the withdrawn needle and dilator and to needle stick is not addressed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,223 is directed to an intravenous catheter placement unit which includes a sheath. The purpose of the sheath is to prevent escape of blood from the open end of the needle hub. U.S. Pat. No. 3,595,230 is directed to a flexible tubular shield for enclosing a catheter and a needle. A slot disposed in the shield permits extension of a tab therethrough for penetrable extension of the needle through a frictionally engaged end plug of the shield. Necessarily, longitudinal collapse of the shield is necessary to effect extension of the needle. Retraction of the needle into the sheath appears not to be intended.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,572,334 is directed to a catheter circumscribed by a needle and the invention is directed to a protective sheath for minimizing the likelihood of needle penetration of the catheter. To avoid the likelihood of catheter penetration, the present state of the art devices locates the catheter as a sheath about the needle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,893 is directed to a stabilizing member for stabilizing the catheter upon a patient. It also illustrates and describes the state of the art in intravenous catheter infusion devices which are presently used by the medical profession. The exposed needle can become contaminated before use since the shield is removed from the needle assembly and catheter. Furthermore, it is possible to reinsert the needle into the catheter to resposition a non functioning blood flowing catheter; such reinsertion may cause severance of parts of the catheter, causing potential embolization of the catheter parts into the blood circulation. Blood can leak from the catheter prior to it being plugged or attached to an intravenous line.